Project Death Vearth
by vivaciousRingo
Summary: With Earth standing on the brink of a dire crisis, Sanji Kuroi—a criminal, may be the only one to find salvation & safe world to live in. But is the new exoplanet really what it appears to be—a paradise? But then why Sanji is so adamant to go there—again?


**Title:** Project Death Vearth  
><strong>Summary:<strong> With Earth standing on the brink of a dire crisis, Sanji Kuroi—a criminal, may be the only one to find salvation and a safe world to live in. But is the new exoplanet really what it appears to be—a paradise? But then why Sanji is so adamant to go there—again?  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Oda's. I don't own manga One Piece, nor Planetes. Both heavily influenced me to write this. I don't own the quotes and lines from movies or said by famous people. I'll be using them in my next chapters~  
><strong>Genre:<strong> Romance/Adventure/Drama/Sci-Fi/slight Gore (yes gore, though am still undecided I may tone it down, lol)  
><strong>Pairings:<strong> Main Sanji x Zoro, Zoro x Sanji, I like them in reversible positions~ 

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><p><strong>Note:<strong> Whoa. I know. Me, posting. finally. _something_, lol. Am surprised myself~. But the idea just grew in my head and planted seeds. MANY EVIL SEEDS. *coughs* Anyway, many terms are taken from hours of research I made an' stuff and many are taken outta my...erm, pretty head, yeah, lol. And I'll be using many phrases in Latin, as in it's a dead language and fits my story pretty well. I studied it in High School, but am very, veeeery rusty, so for any mistakes, I apologize. I need this to distract myself from Bleach-plot bunnies, or I'll go bat-shit _crazy_. We'll see where the idea will take me~ Unbetaed for now, I may post the rest after having a good head-start or finishing it. I don't wanna rush it for my sanity's sake, xD I decided to go with the 1st POV in this particular fic. Tell me if ya like it~

This baby is dedicated to my friend and source of vast inspiration **GeckoMoriaShadowLord.** I promised you Gecko I'll write something for ya, but couldn't make it earlier, this idea seemed to me to be amazingly fitting to gift it exceptionally to you~! I may not say it often enough or in different words, but — **Te adoro!** *squishes in a hug*

Apple~

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><p><strong>Year <strong>**2064, somewhere in Milky Way galaxy, close to planet Gaia.**

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><p>"I repeat—<em>error, error.<em> Due to prior collision auto-pilot function fails to respond. The ship's trajectory deemed unstable. I begin ceasing the process of hibersleep. Wake up, Sanji Kuroi. I repeat—"

I opened my sleep ridden eyes only to register lamps glowing dreadfully red inside the small space ship. I wouldn't call it the worst wake up call ever, because _believe me_—I've had worse when I was barely out of the Earth's atmosphere and making very first baby-steps into the space, battling with nausea on top. But—yes there's a dreadful _but._ The circumstances were unlike the ones I'm in now and I never went alone on missions.

It spelled danger. _Outers pace can be a bitch if you're not careful. _That was the first lesson I learned the hard way. It was given by the only person who gave a damn about me—my old geezer and I took it to the heart. He nagged, bitched and liked to irritate the hell outta me, but I held respect for his skills and experience in outer space.

I _was_ a stubborn brat but no fool to disrespect Old Zeff. I didn't especially enjoy to be kicked in the gut and dandle on the rope of negligible mass, isolated in space, you know. With time I learned patience and how to keep my mouth shut.

Well, most of the time.

I have to admit. During many of my, some would say, _'suicidal'_ voyages I felt my heart nearly going into cardiac arrest like—_hundredths of times_. It wasn't an easy job. _But_ what I experienced in few seconds after waking up in a claustrophobically tight space was far from the range of his military experience I possessed as an astronaut and space explorer. Back then each time I had been suffused with a nice adrenaline rush—_now,_ though through a thick cloud of sleep, I could practically _taste_ my beating rapidly organ in the back of my throat.

And it was nothing else but sheer _panic_ gripping my chest in its icy fingers.

It was no longer a matter of simply "enjoying" the flight while sleeping; my auto-pilot stopped working about an hour ago, leaving me with the only option—to operate manually the rest of the planned way. Usually throughout such long expeditions pilots were put in a state of artificial hibernation, but due to unexpected disturbances in the space I was woken up prematurely by the computer robotic voice.

_Sexy_ artificial woman's voice though.

Ahem, anyway, I realized it happened because the ship was sent off the main course and into an unfamiliar route.

During the set course—I read through the computer data trying to shake off the remains of sleep—the ship had to force his way through unknown asteroid belt resulting in few minor system failures. With no option of fixing manually the surfaced problems, I needed to reduce energy use by shutting down few dispensable functions of the life support system.

I knew where I needed to go and judging by the surrounding names of constellations—the computer swiftly provided me with—I was merely few hours away, by the Earth time, from the objective.

I didn't know whether to be happy, disheartened, anxious, or plain on edge about the near rocky landing. Or was it because I had to land _there_. On _that _planet.

If I were a cat the sight of it would definitely rise fur all over my body. But I was not. So I just fidgeted slightly to change the position I was lying in for many hours while asleep, my butt and back all numb and shit.

I was half-sitting, half-lying in the small room of the space capsule. It took awhile for me to fully awaken, with my metabolism slowing to 1/12 of normal. But when all of my senses started fully coordinating once again—I ripped violently the mask off of my face while scrunching my nose in distaste.

"Oh fuck, but it stinks like motherfucker!"

I would never get used to the god awful smell of the hydrogen sulphide mixed in the breathing air. It was the gas that allowed my body to be put into a state of hibersleep, but it was also responsible for the revolting smell of _bad eggs_. See, you'd be disgusted as well.

"Tch. It pisses me off. They sure don't waste their newest inventions on your typical John Doe." I scoffed angrily to myself, inhaling the scentless clear air in the cockpit. Thanks to my past involvement in the army, I was painfully aware of the many researches on AH—meaning Artificial Hibernation—that were passed as successful. So the actual knowledge I was put to sleep with the gas being on the Government's list of 'poisonous substances' made my blood fucking _boil_.

"Well—since I'm a _criminal_ now, it comes as no surprise they try to save the money wherever they can. The fat, stinking_ bastards_ would rather wipe their asses with the green bills and flush them down the toilet than use it on someone like me." I banged angrily on the closest surface, shoulders sagging like under the pressure of a huge weight.

"Sanji-san, refrain from further damaging the spaceship, please. You surely don't want few billions of dollars be turned into a space waste along with your body now do you." My fist was halted in the air after the melodious voice of my on-board computer reached my ears.

"..Sorry, Robin-chan, got a lot on my mind." I relented, clenching my fist tightly instead, and once again indulged in my thoughts.

I couldn't fucking _believe_ their nerve. They sent me—on this impossible and desperate in itself mission with zero assurance I'd succeed—like it's some goddamn Sunday walk on the moon. "_For them, in a sense, it was like killing two birds with one stone," _I huffed tiredly while threading fingers through my dampened by sweat, golden locks.

I was now simply a _trash_ of society, so why not make me repent officially by becoming a shitty goddamn _hero_ of the Earth, ey?

Naa, it'd be totally _just_ and _understandable_ if I _was_ actually fucking guilty of the charges. But as you can guess—I was _not_.

So, not like I had any means to reject it. Government had ways to camouflage the truth better than a bloody chameleon. They pretty much robbed me off of all my hard-earned titles and put me in jail before I even got over the initial shock. They had few other aces up their sleeves against me and didn't hesitate to blackmail me with them.

Looking back on it, I didn't know whether to thank all gods or curse them. Despite being only 23 years old, I was pretty much a veteran in long-distance space travels, but I wasn't always followed by luck. Somehow the Government dug out my murky past and they found out about our crash in the Gaia planet when I was merely a disciple of Zeff _"The Red"_ Akai. It intrigued them that Gaia's ecosystem was very Earth-like—capable of supporting life. They couldn't pass the opportunity to _explore_ thoroughly this exoplanet and establish close relations with living species there, considering the crisis Earth was going through, now could they?

It was the last nail to my space-coffin, I guessed.

"_No point mulling it over. You can't change now what already has happened. The only option left is to move forward."_ I shook my head to stop thinking useless thoughts. What I had to do now was concentrate and find the safest way to land on Gaia with this half-beaten up piece of junk_. _

"_Shit, but that's gonna hurt."_ I winced internally.

I needed to brace myself. Psych myself up, more so. I had the planet right before my very eyes and there was no turning back.

I cast a look on the inner side of my left forearm where black ink stood out on my sun kissed skin. I trailed my fingers slowly over the permanent ink, imagining it wasn't my own hand but the rough touch of calloused fingers of my lover I left on the dying Earth. I gritted my teeth as the nostalgia violently washed over me like a high wave.

_Quicquid accidat,__ memento quod sumus morieris. _Meaning;whatever happens, remember you are going to die. The tattoo carved into my skin was to remind me of my feeble existence in this vast universe, to teach me humbleness and appreciation of each precious second. It was also the only everlasting connection I had to the person owning my heart.

With that thought I pushed the sequence preparing to go into the Gaia's atmosphere.

I _found_ new strength to move forward.

Depending on my negotiation skills—I could get another chance at starting a new life and seeing my green-haired lover once again.

There was no room for hesitation and second-guessing now.

It was _do_ or _die_.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>**. How it begun. **

_"This is the universe. Big, isn't it?" Zeff asked while gazing at the infinite vastness of the space._


End file.
